there are far more onerous aspects to check when towing than worrying solely about weight ratios. Put your big boy pants on and mention: Nose weight, tyre pressures, weight distribution in the caravan, tyre condition, condition of car and car suspension, does the van have ATC? Has the driver been on a towing course? To name but a few. This is precisely why the focus on the 85% ratio is absurd and distracts from all those other elements which contribute to safe towing.
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Tow weight
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The 85% guide is targetted at newcomers with no towing experience - once you have some experience you can make up your own mind.
It's ironic that those dismissing the 85% guide are all experienced caravanners - perhaps they don't remember when they first started and seem to ignore the fact that drivers' ability and spatial awareness varies considerably - it's faulty logic to suggest that because they can cope with a high towing ratio that all newcomers can.
Those of us who are very old may remember that the guide was 80% and before my time was 75% - the increase reflecting improvements in modern cars.
It's ironic that those dismissing the 85% guide are all experienced caravanners - perhaps they don't remember when they first started and seem to ignore the fact that drivers' ability and spatial awareness varies considerably - it's faulty logic to suggest that because they can cope with a high towing ratio that all newcomers can.
Those of us who are very old may remember that the guide was 80% and before my time was 75% - the increase reflecting improvements in modern cars.
Do a Google search for folks towing caravans (travel trailers in some areas) outside of the UK and you'll see that no-one else has any other nonsense statement banded around. It's an advisory statement that was concocted back in the 1960's, there has been no research done to back up the theory and it's completely meaningless anyway as published "kerb weight" figures are not the same as real kerb weight figures for a given vehicle.
Volvo XC90? Don't bother with a caravan, just fit wheels to your house and it'd tow it just fine!
Volvo XC90? Don't bother with a caravan, just fit wheels to your house and it'd tow it just fine!
Those other parts of the world are just as obsessed with tongueweight (noseweight) being 10-15% as we are with the 85% guide !!!
Americans think that towing with anything less than a full-size V8 pickup is impossible.
I worked for an American company for 22 years and whenever they visited the UK and saw "regular cars" towing anything they were horrified. I've got a US tow bar on one of my (American) classics and it's awful, there's so much play/slop in the detachable ball mount, it'd drive you mad on a long journey with the rattling.
The 85% has been about for decades so that argument simply doesn’t add up. It’s a peculiar UK obsession with little basis in facts.
My post above was directed at the OP who is an experienced caravanner so strict adherence to the 85% guide is difficult to understand. I was not dismissing it for new caravanners. But at the end of the day it’s the OPs decision.
